AP Singh, one of the lawyers who defended the rapists involved in Nirbhaya’s case
So, now, it looks like, not only do we watch out for rapists, we watch out for their lawyers too. Leslee Udwin’s documentary, India’s Daughters, has once again opened the can of worms from Nirbhaya’s case. Not only were the rapists in that case shown on video, blaming the girl for her fate, the rapists’ lawyers too echo them. iDiva had already written earlier about the shocking things they spoke on the video (read here). Despite everybody in the media questioning them, the lawyers remain as unrepentant as the rapists.
More recently, when AP Singh, one of the defense lawyers, once again spoke on air with Radio City jockey Ginnie Mahajan, he shocked and angered everybody including the jockey with his statements. “These rapists are not hardened criminals. They need rehabilitation,” he was heard saying. “It is you women, who lead the men in our country astray.”
This is not the first time the defense lawyers have made controversial statements regarding the case. In September 2013, Singh was in the news for making this statement: “…if my daughter was having premarital sex and moving around at night with her boyfriend, I would have burnt her alive. I would not have let this situation happen. All parents should adopt such an attitude.”
The other lawyer in their team, ML Sharma had also caused furore when he claimed that ‘no respectable woman gets raped.’ “If you are fully covered, nobody will disrespect you or hurt you,” he said.
When lawyers, who are supposed to help us attain justice and who are expected not to harbor such views of women, go around making such statements, the sense of outrage goes beyond words. If this is how they view women, what do they have to say about innocent children who have been victims of rape? Have they provoked or exposed themselves too? It is men like these who give Indian culture and humankind in general a bad name. As the radio jockey in Radio City said, “You should be fettered and kept at home, instead Mr Singh!”
Check out this audio of his conversation with Ginee Mahajan, the jockey from Radio City
Image Courtesy: Reuters
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